Chapter 82 The Same Arrogance.
Because the elimination rounds were held on the first day, Ma Xiaotao and the others had plenty of time to rest and recuperate over the next two days.
Wang Yan was the busiest person during these two days, constantly coming and going, almost like a dragon whose head is rarely seen.
It wasn't until the evening of the third day of the competition that he finally gathered all the team members in the conference room for a meeting.
"Xiao Tao, how are the four of you recovering from your injuries?"
Ma Xiao Tao pondered for a moment, "After these two days of rest, the injuries are recovering quite well. A full recovery within seven or eight days shouldn't be a problem."
Dai Yueheng added, "My situation is similar to Xiao Tao's."
Ling Luochen said in a cool voice, "Chen Zifeng and I were relatively minor injuries to begin with, and now, with another three or four days or so, we should be fully recovered."
Wang Yan nodded, "Three or four days. That means Ling Luochen, you and Chen Zifeng should be able to play in the second or third round of the round-robin tournament."
Wang Yan continued, "The knockout stage is over, and now it's time for the round-robin tournament. From now on, Xiao Tao, the four of you should focus on recovering at the hotel."
The four of them nodded in unison.
Wang Yan cleared his throat and continued, "Next, I'd like to arrange some tactics for the team in advance. Wu Xuan, Xiao Xiao, Yu Hao, and Wang Dong are students I trained, and I know them very well. However, I'm unfamiliar with the abilities of the others. I hope you can introduce your soul skills. Also, Wu Xuan, if you can, tell me in detail about your fourth soul skill. I still haven't figured out its details."
For soul masters, soul skills are their biggest secrets. But within the academy, the situation is clearly different. Moreover, with the competition approaching, it's perfectly normal for Wang Yan to make this request.
Scattering Soul Wind is a locked soul skill; even if you knew it beforehand, you couldn't stop it. Therefore, Wu Xuan revealed everything directly.
Seeing this, Bei Bei and the others didn't hide anything anymore and successively told Wang Yan about their soul skills and trump cards.
Scattering Soul Wind instantly evaporates the opponent's soul power. The awakening of the Holy Dragon bloodline, the awakening of the Xuanwu bloodline, and the invincible golden body that is immune to all attacks made Wang Yan's eyes light up. He nodded frequently and quickly recorded everyone's abilities.
Wang Yan was quite pleased and continued, "As I mentioned before, there will be three battle modes in the round-robin stage. Ultimately, sixty-seven teams will enter the round-robin, divided into eight groups. Three groups will have nine teams each, and the remaining five groups will have eight teams each."
"That means we'll play seven matches in the group stage. Each win earns two points, a loss earns no points, and a draw earns one point. Four groups will play each day, with a round every two days. After seven rounds, plus the tiebreakers for the nine-person groups, the round-robin is expected to last about fifteen to sixteen days."
"We'll find out our group assignments and opponents tomorrow morning. Given Shrek's reputation, we'll definitely be the first to play again."
"The knockout stage is divided into team battles, individual battles, and 2-2-3 formations. The format will be determined by drawing lots on-site. The team battles, needless to say, will be the standard seven-on-seven team battles."
"The individual competition doesn't mean one person goes up and fights only once. The loser is eliminated, and the winner continues fighting until all seven participants from one team are defeated. The individual competition emphasizes individual strength, and the order of appearance can be adjusted based on the opponents' abilities. But let's leave that aside for now. I'll mainly explain the third type of battle: the 2-2-3 formation."
"The 2-2-3 formation, as the name suggests, consists of two 2-on-2 matches and one 3-on-3 match. It's a best-of-three format. This will test my coordination skills. I've carefully considered your strengths. For now, I'll have Bei Bei and Jiang Nannan in one group, and Xu Sanshi and Wang Dong in another. Wu Xuan, Xiao Xiao, and Huo Yuhao, your abilities complement each other better, so you'll be in the 3-on-3 team."
Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and Ling Luochen, the four inner court disciples, secretly nodded in approval of Wang Yan's arrangement. Clearly, Wang Yan's arrangement was very reasonable.
Xu Sanshi said with a frustrated look, "Teacher Wang, why didn't you pair me with Nannan? We know each other well, and our teamwork would be perfect."
Jiang Nannan's almond-shaped eyes widened, "Who knows you well? Stop trying to get close to me."
Wang Yan said, "This is a competition, not a place for you to flirt. Your abilities are a better match for Wang Dong's; you focus on defense, and he focuses on offense. Jiang Nannan's agility is also more coordinated with Bei Bei's powerful attacks. If she were paired with you, she probably wouldn't even be able to unleash 30% of her strength."
Jiang Nannan, who usually rarely spoke, immediately nodded without hesitation and said, "Teacher Wang is wise."
Xu Sanshi's face immediately fell, but this was a competition arrangement, and he couldn't cause trouble.
Wang Yan stood up and said, "Everyone, get a good rest tonight and get into peak condition. Meeting adjourned."
Everyone got up and left the meeting room. Just as Wu Xuan was about to open the door to rest, a handsome young man who looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old walked in slowly. The young man's moon-white outfit made it clear at a glance that he was a student of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.
"You were pretty impressive taking on seven opponents in the elimination rounds the other day! But I think it's nothing special. My name is Xiao Hongchen, remember my name. Because I will personally defeat you, and I will end Shrek Academy's undefeated myth this time."
Wu Xuan remained calm, chuckled lightly, and said indifferently, "If you say it's nothing special, then it's nothing special! As for defeating me? Sorry, I've always believed that only I can defeat myself."
"You really are the same kind of person as me! Equally arrogant." Xiao Hongchen was taken aback for a moment, then laughed.
"My arrogance comes from strength, what about yours? Come and challenge Shrek Academy when we meet in the finals, you're not worthy yet."
After saying this, Wu Xuan pushed open the door and went back to his room. No one in this era could defeat him had been born yet.
"I'm not worthy? You actually said I'm not worthy? Just wait! Just you wait." Xiao Hongchen looked aggrieved, glared fiercely in the direction Wu Xuan had entered, snorted coldly, and turned away.
After the first round of brutal and intense elimination matches, the spectators who had watched the matches at Xingluo Square were completely aroused.
The subsequent round-robin matches would undoubtedly be even more exciting, which led countless people to queue up outside Xingluo Square even late at night, just to catch a glimpse of the spectacle. After all, although Xingluo Square was vast, the number of spectators it could accommodate was ultimately limited. It was impossible for everyone to come and watch.
Therefore, the Star Luo Empire officially raised ticket prices.
Even so, tickets were still extremely difficult to obtain. Star Luo Square was packed with people every day.
Today was the fourth day of the competition. Early in the morning, the shouts of the spectators echoed throughout Star Luo Square. The reason was simple: today, the Shrek Academy team, whom they most wanted to see, was going to play again.
And they would be playing in the very first match. Even His Majesty the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, who only occasionally came to watch from the city walls, had climbed the city walls early in the morning to wait patiently, giving Shrek Academy a great deal of face.
The weather wasn't good today; it was gloomy and somewhat oppressive. The clouds in the sky weren't dark, but they wouldn't let the sun peek out. Fortunately, the air was relatively fresh, and it wasn't raining.
The start of the round-robin tournament also meant the opening of the players' rest area. Today's matches were only the first round of the round-robin tournament, with four of the eight participating teams playing.
Because Shrek Academy was participating in the first round-robin tournament, all 67 participating teams were present. Nearly half of the teams didn't actually have a match today, but they all came to observe Wu Xuan's martial soul and find its weaknesses so they could develop targeted strategies for the future.
Soon after, the 67 teams that advanced from the first round of elimination matches prepared to enter.
When the dark green competition uniforms appeared in the entrance passage of the participating academies, the entire Star Luo Square erupted in cheers. Shouts of "Shrek!" echoed from the nearest direction of the entrance passage.
Wu Xuan walked calmly at the front. Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and Ling Luochen had chosen not to come today, staying at the hotel to recover from their injuries.
Shrek Academy's rest area was at the northernmost point, closest to the imperial city wall, and significantly larger than the other academies' areas. The entire area had twenty comfortable sofas and dedicated waiters. Food, fruit, and drinks were readily available on the nearby tables. This wasn't a competition; it was more like being a VIP spectator.
The other academies had similar treatment, but there were no waiters, and crucially, their rest areas were much smaller than Shrek Academy's. Each rest area only had seven seats, provided for the main players. Reserves or substitutes had to stand at the back.
After a series of rambling remarks to stir up the audience's emotions, the host shouted in the most enthusiastic voice, "Now, please welcome the number one academy on the continent, Shrek Academy, and their opponents, the Star Luo Empire's Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy, to the waiting area. At the same time, please invite the captains of both teams to come up to the stage to determine their match method."
Wu Xuan stood up and walked to the stage at Wang Yan's signal. The captain of Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy was a burly man with short blond hair, and the outline of his strong muscles was faintly visible under his white school uniform.
The two went up to the stage at the same time. The process of drawing the match method was simple. The referee brought a round lottery tube to the stage. First, both captains carefully checked it.
The lottery tube was transparent, making it impossible for any underhanded dealings. There was a small round hole on one side. The referee inserted three small balls, each representing a different fighting style, through a hole. Then, the hole was turned upside down. The two players each held a large sphere with one hand.
The referee shouted, "Three, two, one!"
Wu Xuan and the opposing captain simultaneously threw the large sphere into the air. If no smaller ball was thrown out during this process, the referee would catch the large sphere and turn it back. The fighting style that fell out would be the one represented. If a smaller ball was thrown out while the large sphere was in the air, that would be the correct one.
This was the first draw of the round-robin tournament. It went very smoothly. When the large sphere was thrown twenty meters into the air by the two players, a small ball fell out.
The small balls were three colors, with a clear contrast: red, yellow, and blue.
Red represented combat, yellow represented individual combat, and blue represented two-two-three tactics. And this time, the small ball that fell out of the large sphere was a yellow one.
The referee caught the small ball and simultaneously retrieved the large sphere falling from the air. After showing the ball to both team captains and then gesturing to His Majesty the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire atop the imperial city walls, the match was announced loudly through a portable soul-guided megaphone:
"Shrek Academy vs. Yunluo Academy, a one-on-one elimination tournament. Please send your first player to the field."
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